All That Glitters
by casfics
Summary: When Lily's Christmas plans fall through, a certain someone offers to step up and make sure she does the things she originally wanted to do. (1/3 Christmas fics from me, Connie/Sam and Alicia/Ethan to follow)


**_Decided to do Christmas market based fics for Lily and Iain (this one), Sam and Connie and Alicia and Ethan! I hope to publish them in the next few days but they're taking time to write. Hope you enjoy!_**

'What's up with you then?' Iain dropped his shoulder bag on the table, not even flinching as it made a clatter.

'Nothing.' Lily muttered back.

'Now, that's the sort of nothing that really means there's something.' He clumsily pulled out the stool, perching beside her and glancing over her shoulder. 'Come on. I speak the woman language well.'

She raised an eyebrow, which left him a little hurt.

'What's that you're reading? 18 great fashion tips... Well, you must be really bored sat here.'

She scowled, moving the magazine out his view. ' _Sitting_.'

He frowned, the remark going over his head predictably. 'Lily, you don't think I was born yesterday, do you?'

No reply. A careful, yet graceful clear of the throat.

'I am reading simply because I have nothing better to do.' She informed him finally, enunciating each syllable with a delicacy he was always taken aback by.

'Well, must be nice to have spare time!' He replied drily, drumming his fingers on the desk.

Another pause. Lily jerked her head subtly, causing his brow to furrow even more.

'Or... _not_...' He attempted, glancing at her to gauge her reaction. Instead, she refused to give him the time of day, carefully got down and turned to her locker. 'You off?' He asked, sounding dejected.

'Yes.' She sighed. 'It's not like I've anything better to be doing.'

They locked eyes for a couple of seconds before he shook his head again, prompting, confused at the evasiveness.

'I was meant to be going to the Christmas market today with the girls, and-'

'The girls as in, the girls from this department?' Iain didn't hide his surprise.

'... yes. They have all decided to do better things, and with more interesting people. It's no big deal. I don't know why I was fooling myself.' She posted her arms into the sleeves of her coat and he watched for a second, lost for words. He stared at his feet, equally feeling bad on her behalf; she tried so hard to fit in. Just when she'd made a real effort, it was all in vain.

He scrunched his nose up when he felt her eyes on him. 'Maybe it's for the best. Thought you weren't such a big Christmas fan anyway. There's ice skating, game playing, drinking, you hate all that.'

She shook her head, curls bouncing. 'I... it's not the event itself. It's the company.'

'And you like being solitary, don't you?'

'Yes, but not always.' A sigh. 'You don't understand. It's fine. I'll see you tomorrow. I guess.' She mumbled.

As she turned, he called back after her.

'Wait, Lily-'

Her head spun round, eyes expectant and wide.

'I'm free this afternoon. If you're dead set on going, I mean...' He tried to deliver the line with as much nonchalance as possible.

'What? Me and you?' She asked, eyes on stalks.

'Uh...' His own eyes widened, cheeks tinging pink. 'I-'

A smile. 'Sure.'

'It would be an awful shame not to go, you've done your hair for the occasion.' He gestured casually.

'I would've done it anyway.' She replied quietly, corners of her lips still twitching.

He chuckled. 'When does it start then?'

'It started an hour ago at 3, I think it closes at midnight.'

'Well, we best get our skates on, hadn't we?'

'So to speak.' She replied, averting her eyes and turning back to the locker.

'Uh, Lily, I will only accompany you on one condition. You are not allowed to be boring.'

'But what if I don't want to skate?' She whined.

'What if I do?' He challenged back.

'Then I will hold the bags.' She smiled, as if pleaded with herself.

'You're really one of a kind, you, aren't you?' He rolled his eyes, taking a couple of steps to his own locker.

'All down to opinion.'

-x-

'Isn't it beautiful?' Lily whispered, walking along whilst gazing at the chains of lights strung from lamp post to lamp post.

'Yeah, it's something else alright.' He agreed, equally fascinated by the spectacular array of colours, blues, reds, yellows and greens.

'I am glad the train journey was a short one.' She shuddered.

He gave an amused laugh into the open. 'It's a Sunday afternoon though, and them footballers had every right to be on our carriage.'

'Yes, sure, but _chanting_?'

'If they please, why not?!' He exclaimed.

'Rowdy. Inconsiderate. Thuggish.'

'It's called public transport for a reason, Lily.'

'You could have driven us.'

He laughed again. 'And parked where, exactly? Top of that tree? Also, orange juice isn't my idea of a wild time, for your information.'

'It's a German market, I highly doubt they do orange juice Iain.' She replied scathingly.

'Eh, don't you be racist!'

She chuckled appreciatively, glancing up at him. Their breath smoked up in billows as they walked along, stars beginning to glitter in the dusky sky.

Ah... hot chocolate!' Iain observed, eyes widening in delight.

Lily stayed quiet, pacing along beside him.

'I'm going to get one, I think. Are you wanting anything?'

'I'm okay, thank you.' She declined politely. 'I'll wait over by the stall with the snow globes on it.'

He glanced over his shoulder. 'Yeah, alright then. Won't be two minutes.'

People bustled about, darting from stall to stall randomly, seeming to gain energy every time they bumped into someone or something else. Crowds surged, and Lily soon found herself tangled in a sea of bodies and cumbersome plastic dimensions attached to four wheels, containing infants who certainly did not care to be there. Their shrill cries attested to their displeasure further, simultaneously giving her goosebumps, earache and a firm reminder that motherhood was not calling her. Yet.

'Swept away there?'

Lily turned round to see Iain, armed with two polystyrene cups.

'You shouldn't have...'

'Why? It's cold enough.

'I'm watching my figure.' She replied, anguished, cautiously taking the cup off him.

'Pfft! Have you looked in a mirror?'

'Iain, don't-'

'I won't. You're mad, though.'

She sipped the top layer of froth off the surface of the liquid tentatively, holding the drink between both hands.

'Woah, steady on-' Iain deftly swerved her out the way of oncoming people, all equally inebriated, by a loose grip on the sleeve of her coat.

'Thanks... I- they came from nowhere.' She said, breathlessly.

'No worries. I see what you mean now. I'm sure I recognised that bloke from the train, actually.'

'Hm, maybe. Hard to say though, it is so busy.'

'Yeah, it is.' He replied thoughtfully, before looking her up and down again with a wince. 'You must be absolutely freezing.'

'I've got a drink now though, haven't I? Courtesy of you.' She comfortably secured it in her left hand, other arm dropping back down by her side.

He gently reached for her hand, twining their fingers together. Though her expression communicated surprise, her own fingers immediately curled around his in response.

'What are you doing?'

'I don't know.' He greeted her look of bewilderment with a little smile. 'Do we have to think about it, or can we just walk?'

They trundled along in silence, connected palm to palm. Christmas music blasted from the speakers, until a song came on that made Iain pause.

'Love is in the air...' He sung along badly, before stopping. 'Love _is_ in the air, Lily.'

She gave an embarrassed laugh, looking down at their feet, which were moving in unison. To make up for her shorter strides, he took smaller steps too, something which made a fuzzy feeling rise in her chest.

'Stop singing, people are staring!' She urged.

'And? I'm merry. What reason have you to be morose?'

'Stop quoting Dickens and pretending it's you.' She giggled, sipping from her drink again

The wind had blown it cooler while they'd walked, she observed.

'I thought you wouldn't notice that.' He pulled a face. 'Awkward.'

She squeezed tighter. 'Such a poetic sentence would not ever escape your lips.'

'That's just plain old rude.' He said. 'Now you've made me feel silly.'

'Lucky only I heard you, isn't it? Anyway, I am impressed you have some degree of culture.'

He snorted. 'Culture from watching A Christmas Carol on video cassette, repeatedly, every Christmas without fail with Gem while our mum was down the pub?'

'So, not even the book? Oh, Iain! That's worse. I take it back.'

'Well, it's all the same.' He stopped, and his sparkling eyes made contact with hers. 'Oh, uh...'

'What?

'No easy way of saying this.' He let go of her hand, stifling a chuckle. 'You've got cream, um-'

'On my nose?' She asked, face falling with horror as she fumbled in her bag for a mirror.

'I'll get it,' He laughed, swiftly collecting the droplet with a thumb. 'Don't sweat it. I'm king of making a tit of myself in public. If someone's spilled something, I assure you it's likely to be me.'

'That's sweet.' She said, posting her hands back into the pockets of her coat in the absence of gloves. 'Trying to make me feel better.'

'I'm telling the truth!' He laughed.

'It's sweet though.' She repeated, as they strolled along past the main attractions.

'Fancy the Ferris wheel?' He asked. 'Then maybe a beer.'

'Sure, on me.' She said.

He placed the back of his hand to her forehead, causing her to instantly recoil. 'Are you well?'

'Excuse me?'

'Just checking to see if you have a temperature, Lily Chao, agreeing to a drink. Offering to buy a drink. A drink that isn't water.'

'There is a lot you don't know about me.' She raised an eyebrow, before stopping in front of the wheel. 'Are you sure about this? It's huge and those carriages look to be swinging...'

'They're making them swing.' He said. 'Course it's safe. If you'd rather we-'

'I'll humour you.' Lily nodded decisively. 'How about the ice skating?'

-x-

'Hope that queue was worth it!' Lily edged carefully onto the rink.

Close behind her, Iain stepped on with a margin more confidence. 'It will be. I'm glad I offered to go with you, it's been great so far.'

'So far.' Lily repeated, apprehensive. 'I have done this only once before.'

'Oh yeah, and when was that?' He asked, making conversation.

'I was nine, or maybe ten. A friend's birthday party. Of course, I fell flat on my backside.'

He chuckled. 'Statistically, though, you should be better off than me on this thing. You spend all day teetering about in them feet killers, how is a blade on your foot any different?'

'We'll see. You overestimate me. I like this activity just as much as you like orange juice.' She grumbled.

'I'm sure it's not that bad.' He skated off towards the middle bravely.

She begun to follow. 'Believe me, you-'

Quickly, and before either knew what had happened, she landed in his arms. 'Steady on.' He tilted his head to one side cheekily.

'Of course that happened.' She said, determined to get her balance. 'It was bound to. I told you so.'

No sooner had she attempted to rise, she fell again. Iain was less prepared, and she landed on the ice with a thud.

'Are you alright?' He bent down.

'I'm fine, I'm fine, don't make a fuss...'

Small tears formed in her eyes, embarrassment taking precedent over any other emotion. There were eight year old children and smaller, fully competent and gliding round like professionals. It didn't seem fair.

'Hold on to me, eh?' Iain suggested, concern etched into his expression. As they skated round together, he wobbled slightly and laughed. 'Perhaps this wasn't my finest suggestion after all.'

'It's fun!' She enthused, nose and cheeks red with cold and exhilaration.

'For who?' He protested, out of breath, though a smile had appeared on his face. They came to a stop by a wall, freezing and gasping for breath.

'What a palaver. Don't know who's worse!' He laughed.

'At ice skating, or in general? That determines the answer.'

'You're not flirting, are you, Lily? Or should I say, _ice queen_? Given that name a whole new meaning now.'

'I'm certainly not, are you?'

'All down to opinion, I'd say.' He echoed with a smirk.

Their lips locked in the cold air, both acutely aware their position was not a sustainable one. Every time one of them slipped, the other giggled more. Lights glittered down onto the ice rink while they stayed there, ignoring the world, focused solely on each other.


End file.
